# Disseminating Effective Reproductive and Sexual Health Programs

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON · 2024 · $578,220

## Abstract

Disseminating Effective Sexual Health Programs in Schools using iCHAMPSS
 PROJECT SUMMARY
Despite a steady decline in the U.S., teen births continue to be a public health problem, particularly in Texas. Texas has
the ninth-highest teen birth rate and is tied for the highest percentages of repeat teen births nationally. Teen births are
especially problematic in South Texas, with rates as high as 64 per 1,000 females 15-19 years. Sexual health evidence-
based programs (EBPs) can reduce sexual behaviors that increase the risk of unintended pregnancies and other adverse
sexual health outcomes among youth; however, the implementation of such programs has been limited in schools. In
fact, fewer teens now than in the past receive any sexual health information in Texas schools. Thus, there is a critical
need for evidence-based strategies to increase the adoption and implementation of sexual health EBPs in Texas schools.
Our goal is to increase the adoption and implementation of sexual health EBPs in South Texas schools; in doing so, we
will reduce risky sexual behaviors among adolescents and, ultimately, teen births. The objective of this 5-year study,
which is the next logical step to attain our goal, is to rigorously evaluate iCHAMPSS 2.0 (CHoosing And Maintaining
Effective Programs for Sex Education in Schools). We designed this innovative, theory-based implementation strategy to
increase knowledge and skills among school-based and district-wide decision-makers, enabling effective adoption,
implementation, and maintenance of sexual health EBPs. Our central hypothesis is that iCHAMPSS 2.0 will increase the
implementation of sexual health EBPs in South Texas schools in the implementation phase relative to the control phase.
Our rationale for this project is that determining iCHAMPSS 2.0's effectiveness will help scale-up sexual health EBPs
across Texas schools, giving access to critical sexual health information to thousands of Texas youth annually. This study
is founded on our extensive experience working with Texas school districts to implement sexual health EBPs and
developing and pilot-testing iCHAMPSS 2.0 to disseminate these EBPs. Our proposed specific aims are to: (1) Conduct a
stepped-wedge randomized controlled trial of iCHAMPSS 2.0 in 15 South Texas school districts to test iCHAMPSS 2.0's
impact on the adoption, implementation, reach, and maintenance of sexual health EBPs in schools; (2) Determine
iCHAMPSS 2.0's effectiveness in improving determinants of sexual health EBPs use in schools based on constructs within
the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research; and (3) Conduct a process evaluation of iCHAMPSS 2.0
implementation to monitor implementation, reach, dosage, barriers, and facilitators to implementation. This study is
innovative because it seeks to test the effectiveness of the first-of-its-kind web-based implementation strategy designed
to overcome barriers to the adoption, implementation, and maintenance of sexual health EB...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10804039
- **Project number:** 1R01HD111699-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Belinda Flores Hernandez
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $578,220
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-04 → 2029-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10804039

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10804039, Disseminating Effective Reproductive and Sexual Health Programs (1R01HD111699-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-08-17 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10804039. Licensed CC0.

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